Meet the team

John Cane, Director and Senior Speech and Language Therapist

John graduated from the University of Reading with a BA in Linguistics and Japanese, before gaining his Postgraduate Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy from City University in 2010. Since then, he has continued his professional training, adding dyslexia and other literacy difficulties to his experience, and ensures that he’s using the latest, evidence-based practice.

John has extensive experience of working with children on a 1-1 basis, as well as in groups, particularly with autistic young people, language disorder and delay, phonological (speech sound) delay and disorder, as well as ADHD and global delay.

Currently working in several primary and secondary schools, he also provides assessments and reports for EHCPs, EHCP appeals and annual reviews for children when his busy schedule allows.

As Managing Director, John’s role is to ensure that ACCESS Speech and Language Therapy provides the best possible service for all the families and schools we work with. He is a member of ASLTIP (The Association of Speech & Language Therapists in Independent Practice).

John is also a keen ultra-marathon runner, most recently completely a gruelling 68-miler.

Charlie Birkett, Senior Speech and Language Therapist

Charlie has an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy from City University, London with a bachelor of science undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Sussex.

For the past 12 years Charlie has worked with a diverse range of clients including mainstream secondary, primary, early years clinics and special schools across London and South East of England. Charlie is currently working in Alternative Secondary Provisions in Haringey providing support for a wide range of speech, language and communication needs.

Catherine Harris, Speech and Language Therapist

Catherine enjoys working with children and young people, supporting them to reach their full potential. She has an MA from Edinburgh University and a BSC from Reading University in Speech and Language Therapy.

Her special interests include social communication, language disorder and multilingualism. Catherine has extensive experience working with children and young people 1:1 and in groups.

She is a member of the London Autism Clinical Excellence Network and is experienced at working with autistic children and young people.

She is currently working in secondary schools across London.

Ming Flannelly, Speech and Language Therapist

Ming (they/them) is a fully qualified Speech and Language Therapist from Dublin, Ireland. They graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Speech and Language Studies. 

Ming believes in an evidence-based, child-centred approach, with fun-filled and inclusive therapy. They are dedicated to achieving the best practice, to give each child the maximum opportunity to achieve their developmental and educational goals.

Ming is bilingual in both Mandarin and English. They have received additional training including:

• Palin's Parent-Child Interaction therapy for stuttering/stammering

• Elklan 5-11 Years language therapy for children with language difficulties

• Elklan: Supporting Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) of Children and Young People

• Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme for helping children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech

• Hanen More than Words for helping children with social communication difficulties

• Hanen It Takes Two to Talk for children with language delay

Ming loves being out in nature and dedicates their free time to rock climbing, hiking, singing and art.

SSL, Speech and Language Therapist

SSL recently graduated from City, St George’s University of London with a BSc Speech and Language Therapy. She has three years’ experience working with children and their families in Primary School and Early Year Settings. 

Currently working in mainstream secondary and primary schools, SSL supports children and young people with a wide range of language and communication needs. She particularly enjoys using creative resources and learning about new therapy approaches to deliver holistic client-centred therapy.

Pnina Zokaie, Speech and Language Therapist

Before moving to London, Pnina was based in in the USA, working in both a hospital and school setting in Los Angeles. She gained her Masters degree in Speech and Language Therapy at California State, Northridge, and has a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology from UCLA.

Pnina works in one of our mainstream primary schools, and one secondary, where she provides therapy to students of diverse backgrounds and capabilities, focusing mainly on Language Disorders and Social Aspects of Communication. She’s also bilingual; fluent in both Farsi and English.

Outside of her working life, as well as being a keen cook, Pnina says her hobbies include "driving my three children to different destinations so they can enjoy their hobbies!"